Work on District 13 schools 'right on schedule'

DURHAM -- Since the beginning of the summer, construction workers have been tearing apart and fixing four schools as part of Regional School District 13's $34 million building project, and it looks like the work is right on schedule.

JOHN CHRISTIE

Published 12:00 am, Friday, August 9, 2002

The most visible work for residents have been the renovations at Strong Middle School on Route 17.

Many parents and students have called Town Hall wondering if the new parking lot will be ready at the start of academic year on Sept. 3.

"Everything's on schedule at Strong School," Assistant Superintendent Robert Gourley said. "The project's been a bit like an archeological dig. They've unearth things we didn't anticipate like dry wells and old electrical wiring from the 1940s and 1950s. It's a fairly old building."

Since June, workers from Aspinet Construction, of Avon, have torn up walls, ceilings and tiling to completely renovate the interior of Strong School so the building can be brought in line with state Department of Education standards.

"The school will undergo a complete renovation to meet state criteria for a 25-year life cycle," Gourley said.

Also workers will construct a 31,000-square-foot addition on the back of the 47,000-square-school.

Like most middle schools, Strong's student body are divided into teams, with each student team gravitating around teachers and classrooms in specific areas of the school.

Gourley said the addition will allow the junior high school to add a third student team to the school's current two-team structure.

"They've been bursting at the seams for a while," he said.

Renovations at Strong School are scheduled for completion by September or October of 2004, though Gourley said Aspinet may finish slightly before deadline.

"The contractor has been a little more aggressive in finishing work than we anticipated and are currently ahead of schedule," he said. "They may finish a couple of month's earlier."

In the meantime, classes will move around the building to make room for the work.

"There will be areas of the building students won't be allowed to go near for safety reasons," Gourley said. "Many of the students should be used to school construction by now and know the rules.

"With the recent work at Lyman and Memorial schools and now at Strong and Coginchaug, many of our students will be surrounded by construction for their entire academic career," he said.

Neither student drivers nor parents should worry about parking at Strong School. Workers will finish putting the primary coat on the lot so it can be used during the school year. The secondary coat will not go on until construction is complete.

Gourley said workers from LaRosa Building Group of Meriden are also right on schedule for putting on a 2,500-square-foot addition to serve as music and art classrooms on the back of Korn Elementary School on Pickett Lane, and revamping the heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems at Brewster School on Tuttle Road.

"They should be finished by the end of October by the very latest," Gourley said.

In the next couple of weeks, workers from Haynes Construction of Seymour will start work at Coginchaug Regional High School.

Like at Strong School, workers will conduct a complete renovation to meet state guidelines and build a new 21,000-square-foot wing for the 113,000-square-foot school.

Gourley said Coginchaug should be finished by the fall of 2004.

"I don't think there is an area of the campus that won't be touched by construction in some way or another," he said.